Friday, September 30, 2016

One thing the lgbt community should confront as a stand alone issue is the constant propagation of the lie that we are trying to "recruit" children.

From Anita Bryant in the late 1970s to the marriage equality fights, to the present battle over transgender equality, the religious right has consistently created a horrible image of lgbts luring young boys and girls into a so-called life of homosexual squalor and wanton sex.

It is probably the most successful and enduring lie the religious right has in its arsenal.

The latest incarnation is from wannabe anti-lgbt activist Michael Brown in an column at One News Now:

Do you need to lock your doors and
windows at night because a homosexual predator is coming after your
kids? That is absolutely not what I mean when I say that LGBT activists
are coming for your children.I'm talking about educators and government leaders; I'm talking about
celebrities and judges; I'm talking about people of influence who want
to indoctrinate your children even before they get to school.I'm talking about an all-out war for the minds and hearts of your kids.
. . . I understand what motivates the activists and educators. They want to teach "tolerance" and they want a child who does not
appear to be "gender conforming" to realize that their insides might not
be in harmony with their outsides. But that doesn't make what they're doing right, nor does it make it
helpful. And the best motivation in the world cannot change falsehood
into truth. That being said, it is clear that LGBT activists and their allies
have had ample motivation to change the thinking of Americans, beginning
with our children, and already in 1995, lesbian author Patricia Nell
Warren stated, "Whoever captures the kids owns the future." (Published
in The Advocate, October 3, 1995, p. 80, in the article "Future Shock.")

To put it mildly, Brown is an idiot. His hysterical diatribe omits two facts - that many young children are identifying as lgbts without any prodding from anyone and that same-sex families are raising children. That last point is important to combat the semantics of his argument. Lgbts are not after the children of so-called normal families. We are not outside the box watching heterosexuals raising children. We are raising children ourselves.

However, the sad part of Brown's nonsensical column is that some people will believe it as truth. That's unfortunately to be expected.

Still, the lgbts want to "recruit" children is a lie that the community must aggressively call out. And not before someone likes Brown puts us on the defensive.

About Me

Alvin McEwen is 46-year-old African-American gay man who resides in Columbia, SC.
McEwen's blog, Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters, and writings have been mentioned by Americablog.com, Goodasyou.org, People for the American Way, PageOneQ.com, The Washington Post, Raw Story, The Advocate, Media Matters for America, Crooksandliars.com, Thinkprogress.org, Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish, Melissa Harris-Perry, The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, Newsweek, The Daily Beast, The Washington Blade, and Foxnews.com.
In addition, he is also a past contributor to Pam's House Blend,Justice For All, LGBTQ Nation, and Alternet.org. He is a present contributor to the Daily Kos and the Huffington Post,
He is the 2007 recipient of the Harriet Daniels Hancock Volunteer of the Year Award and the 2010 recipient of the Order of the Pink Palmetto from the SC Pride Movement as well as the 2009 recipient of the Audre Lorde/James Baldwin Civil Rights Activist Award from SC Black Pride. In addition, he is a three-time nominee of the Ed Madden Media Advocacy Award from SC Pride.